Screw motivation, what you need is discipline.

If you want to get anything done, there are two basic ways to get yourself to do it.

The first, more popular and devastatingly wrong option is to try to motivate yourself.

The second, somewhat unpopular and entirely correct choice is to cultivate discipline.

This is one of these situations where adopting a different perspective immediately results in superior outcomes. Few uses of the term “paradigm shift” are actually legitimate, but this one is. It’s a lightbulb moment.

What’s the difference?

Motivation, broadly speaking, operates on the erroneous assumption that a particular mental or emotional state is necessary to complete a task.

That’s completely the wrong way around.

Discipline, by contrast, separates outwards functioning from moods and feelings and thereby ironically circumvents the problem by consistently improving them.

The implications are huge.

Successful completion of tasks brings about the inner states that chronic procrastinators think they need to initiate tasks in the first place.

Put in simpler form, you don’t wait until you’re in olympic form to start training. You train to get into olympic form.

If action is conditional on feelings, waiting for the right mood becomes a particularly insidious form of procrastination. I know that too well, and wish somebody pointed it out for me twenty, fifteen or ten years ago before I learned the difference the hard way.

If you wait until you feel like doing stuff, you’re fucked. That’s precisely how the dreaded procrastinatory loops come about.

At its core, chasing motivation is insistence on the infantile fantasy that we should only be doing things we feel like doing. The problem is then framed thus: “How do I get myself to feel like doing what I have rationally decided to do?”. Bad.

The proper question is “How do I make my feelings inconsequential and do the things I consciously want to do without being a little bitch about it?”.

The point is to cut the link between feelings and actions, and do it anyway. You get to feel good and buzzed and energetic and eager afterwards.

Motivation has is the wrong way around. I am utterly 100% convinced that this faulty frame is the main driver of the “sitting about in underwear playing Xbox, and with yourself” epidemic currently sweeping developed countries.

There are psychological problems with relying on motivation as well.

Because real life in the real world occasionally requires people do things that nobody in their right mind can be massively enthusiastic about, “motivation” runs into the insurmountable obstacle of trying to elicit enthusiasm for things that objectively do not merit it. The only solution besides slackery, then, is to put people out of their right minds. That’s a horrible, and fortunately fallacious, dilemma.

Trying to drum up enthusiasm for fundamentally dull and soul crushing activities is literally a form of deliberate psychological self-harm, a voluntary insanity: “I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THESE SPREADSHEETS, I CAN’T WAIT TO FILL OUT THE EQUATION FOR FUTURE VALUE OF ANNUITY, I LOVE MY JOB SOOO MUCH!”

I do not consider self-inflicted episodes of hypomania the optimal driver of human activity. A thymic compensation via depressive episodes is inevitable, since the human brain will not tolerate abuse indefinitely. There are stops and safety valves. There are hormonal hangovers.

The worst thing that can happen is succeeding at the wrong thing – temporarily. A far superior scenario is retaining sanity, which unfortunately tends to be misinterpreted as moral failure: “I still don’t love my pointless paper-shuffling job, I must be doing something wrong.”“I still prefer cake to brocolli and can’t lose weight, maybe I’m just weak”.“I should buy another book about motivation”. Bullshit. The critical error is even approaching those issues in terms of motivation or lack thereof. The answer is discipline, not motivation.

There is another, practical problem with motivation. It has a tiny shelf life, and needs constant refreshing.

Motivation is like manually winding up a crank to deliver a burst of force. At best, it stores and converts energy to a particular purpose. There are situations where it is the correct attitude, one-offs where getting psyched and spring-loading a metric fuckton of mental energy upfront is the best course of action. Olympic races and prison breaks come to mind. But it is a horrible basis for regular day-to-day functioning, and anything like consistent long-term results.

By contrast, discipline is like an engine that, once kickstarted, actually supplies energy to the system.

In summary, motivation is trying to feel like doing stuff. Discipline is doing it even if you don’t feel like it.

You get to feel good afterwards.

Discipline, in short, is a system, whereas motivation is analogous to goals. There is a symmetry. Discipline is more or less self-perpetuating and constant, whereas motivation is a bursty kind of thing.

How do you cultivate discipline? By building habits – starting as small as you can manage, even microscopic, and gathering momentum, reinvesting it in progressively bigger changes to your routine, and building a positive feedback loop.

Motivation is a counterproductive attitude to productivity. What counts is discipline.

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I view discipline and motivation as two sides of the same coin. Motivation is what your sub-conscious mind wants you to do, discipline is what your conscious mind needs to do to get the sub-conscious mind to get in line with what you actually want.

You know who’s motivated like there is no tomorrow? Drug addicts. Motivation isn’t working for them, now, is it? Everything bad about your life is caused by misplaced motivation. The solution is discipline.

If you apply discipline long enough, your sub-conscious will adjust to go in the same direction… then you’re unstoppable.

Two edged sword: On the downside using this kind of discipline at a job you need but don’t necessarily like very much helps you make the big shots at the top alot of money. On the plus side, using this kind of discipline at a job you need but don’t necessarily like very much can help you shut out the bullshit, get it done and go home.

Community Action Hero Yorka

This article is doesn’t suffer from lack of strong feelings. (“Man-up!”) The article poses a couple of interesting questions. Unfortunately the premise is flawed and the tone is too negative without substantiating claims with valid evidence and good data.
It’s not necessary to write a good piece on discipline without attempting to use the concept of motivation as a poor substitute for the real world need to work on drudgery that every job and aspiration requires.
Motivation(oversimplified and only includes a broad reference to external and intrinsic as one) and Discipline are not diametrically opposed and are far more complex than the devils advocate/boot camp approach used in an attempt to make a cogent case when the entire premise is based on an inaccurate statement.
I might draw attention to the “slacker” generations or that not all Motivation is temporary.
Rather I suggest the reader and author to dig for a deeper understanding of powerful terms and take note when an article of nonfiction relying too much on negativity.
Nuff said

ChiefBurrito

I’ve always known to just “get doing and stop thinking” is the only way to gain productive momentum, but I swear the lazy bastard side of me always wants to claim feeling “unmotivated”. That guy sucks.

love the article, love the swearing! I’m feeling SO MOTIVATED TO BE DISCIPLINED RIGHT NOW.

John Candy

This is a ridiculous article. The author creates an unbelievably weak and inaccurate strawman argument for what motivation actually is and how people use it. If you’re going to criticize someone’s approach to working (which is unnecessary in the first place), do it right.

I don’t think I know anyone who relies on motivation for every single solitary time they want to get anything done. What a horribly inaccurate strawman fallacy. Motivation sometimes helps people. No one relies on it.

By the way, I’m not denying the value of discipline. I’m just saying the author created a stupid and ridiculous strawman argument that no one ever claimed to be true before he created it. Discipline is great, but the author used a stupid method to get his point across.

“Motivation is like manually winding up a crank to deliver a burst of force. At best, it stores and converts energy to a particular purpose. There are situations where it is the correct attitude, one-offs where getting psyched and spring-loading a metric fuckton of mental energy upfront is the best course of action. Olympic races and prison breaks come to mind. But it is a horrible basis for regular day-to-day functioning, and anything like consistent long-term results.”

And who relies on that for day-to-day functioning?

“There are psychological problems with relying on motivation as well.”

Oh, ok. Well, good thing no one relies on it.

The only reason I am posting this comment is that I hate poor reasoning and I hate poor logic. According to some of these comments, this article has actually helped people. But that doesn’t change the fact that you used a disgustingly pathetic logical fallacy to get your point across. Your point is good, but you used a disgraceful method to get it across.

R. Erickson

A concise work on a difficult topic of just how we can take plan to action. I especially like the analogy that motivation is essentially a conversion of energy to energy where discipline is self perpetuating.

For those concerned about the use of profanity. It can be an advantage of emphasis and breaking mental barriers when used correctly. The downside can be that too much profanity detracts from the points trying to be made. I think this piece does a good job of balancing emphasis with what is offered.

You have to admire the moral superiority the author exudes. Just to point out the obvious one: people who care about motivation are being “infantile.”

Daniel Hughes

I don’t think he meant it as a personal attack. You can take the advice or not. I don’t think anyone will lose sleep over your decision.

Sher Ed Mack

Though I see and agree with your points; I’m overwhelmed. Where do I start and in which order do I follow? I have ADD and I seem to thrive in chaos (insert multitask, here), which suits me well at work but wrecks my mind later; no sleep, can’t shut it off. I need organization (you should see all my post-it notes); BUT HOW? There is enough info here to spark my interest but no follow-up with instruction as to how? Dammit man, I need details. It is all in the details, right?

Great read…only wish you left out the expletives to make more user and work friendly!

Vega007

I agree. I always want to share things like this but won’t because of the expletives. Sad when people feel they need to add them to make their work seem more serious or tough. Whatevs.

Mark Harmer

Do I guess you’re from the US? Americans are so prudish about language.

okiwen

You are an idiot and a bigot.

Mark Harmer

Not at all – just my observation. But thank you for your nice friendly comment!

FromEnglandWithLove

It’s common knowledge that Americans have some bizarre hang-ups, especially about language and anatomy. Endless violence on TV is ok, but god forbid anyone see’s a nipple or a mother breastfeeding!

Vega007

I am from the US. Perhaps we can be pretentious sometimes, but for something like this, I would have liked to share it to professionals.

Mark Harmer

It is a fair point – it’s written in the UK so a different culture. The language is a tad salty for the workplace I suppose. I agree – great article and really useful.

Mark Harmer

It is a fair point – it’s written on the UK so a different culture. I guess people will understand that and make allowances but yes. The language is a tad salty for the workplace I suppose. Great article though.

Daniel Hughes

Oh don’t be so prude. The expletives add to his point.

Maxwell Gold

How exactly does this expletive make a point…there’s no other way to say this?
“if you wait until you feel like doing stuff, you’re fucked.”

Squid Scribe

Thoughts may have a different emotional impact depending on how they are phrased. Observe:

“If you procrastinate as a result of your lack of enthusiasm, you’re only harming yourself in the long run.”

“Get ‘er done.”

“If you wait until you feel like doing stuff, you’re fucked.”

In my opinion, the third is most effective at delivering this particular message, in this particular format, to this particular audience. What makes good writing, in my mind, is clarity. Not flowery language, dazzling metaphors or stirring rhetoric. Clarity. And the emotional punch of that language just drives it home all the better.

I’d share this with coworkers in a heartbeat – with the caveat that it contains swears.

Sher Ed Mack

Black those offensive works out with a Sharpie, snowflake.

Maxwell Gold

Missing the point Sunshine….in a corporate world those words are not needed to make a point..blogs on the otherhand are different..so go fuck yourself

Sher Ed Mack

Your suggestion is physically impossible. Need I post an article of how one gets fucked so you realize it takes two to make your suggestion happen? I am but a single person. One cannot fuck one’s self. Silly snowflake.

Maxwell Gold

That explains alot!

Sher Ed Mack

Glad I could educate you.

Sher Ed Mack

Aww. Did you get upset? Go hide in your safe place. SNOWFLAKE.

Marcia Dias

I love to read stuff like that, a much needed slap in the face.
Thanks!

my_bed_is_my_castle

This was a great read! I found it just in time before the next exam period.
Thank you very much.

I once read an article put in by Ben of A16Z (a vc firm in US) about the “Hard thinsg about hard things” – quite an interesting book, that was.

Zbyněk Dráb

It is a good book.

CA

Sounds like so much energy was put into this article to avoid doing something else.
I also differ with the author on a number of points. Motivation is not about getting into a state to get started. Motivation is about remembering or envisioning the state you want to be in at the end. Big difference.

Daniel Hughes

Motivation is fleeting. Having the grit and discipline to succeed no matter the circumstances is what counts.

Sher Ed Mack

IMO, it’s both. It’s making a plan and seeing it through to the end. Then, coming up with another plan and so on and so forth…

Makes the late nights of banging head on keyboard totally worth it. Am genuinely moved. Massive congratulations on your change!

Chris Bednar

Thanks, I appreciate it. Keep up the awesome writing! Anytime someone asks me about motivation, I always direct them to
this article. I also linked it in my r/fitness post which has 3400+ upvotes and was on the
front page for a time.

I really want to spread the word about how I dealt with the challenges I faced, what I learned and how I grew during my journey. I will share my experiences and wisdom through my YouTube channel. Would it be crazy to ask you for a shout out or mention of my channel? Thanks!

This article is pretty motivating :) In all seriousness,this has had a profound impact on how I look at what’s important as well as the vicious cycle of motivating yourself and letting yourself down when motivation fails you and how very important disicple is.

Damn you by the way,I keep clicking links and opening new tabs to read on the rest of the site,I have seven tabs open as I type this.

Great writng style as well even though I have to use Chrome’s spellcheck every couple of words.